1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to explosive compositions comprising specific Mannich adducts in a water-in-oil emulsion as emulsifier, and to processes for producing these compositions.
2. Description of the Background
Liquid explosives usually comprise aqueous emulsions of an inorganic oxidant such as, for example, ammonium nitrate in an organic phase which is immiscible with water. Emulsions of this type are produced in the state of the art by employing emulsifiers of various types. Thus, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,988 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,460,670 describe the use of specific hydrocarbyl polyamides as emulsifiers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,044 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,258 describe the use of sorbitan fatty acid esters, glycol esters, substituted oxazolines, alkylamines and salts and derivatives thereof as emulsifiers for this purpose. U.S. Pat. No. 3,447,978 proposes the use of various sorbitan fatty acid esters and various fatty acid glycerides as emulsifiers for liquid explosives. U.S. Pat. No. 4,141,767 discloses the use of C14-C22-fatty acid amines or ammonium salts as emulsifiers for explosive compositions. WO 96/41781 describes emulsifier compositions which contain as main constituent an alkylcarboxamide, alkenylcarboxamide, poly(alkyleneamine) or a (di)alkanolamine of specific structure. The emulsifier systems are suitable for producing explosive emulsions. GB-A-2 187 182 describes explosive compositions comprising a poly[alk(en)yl]succinic acid or a derivative thereof as emulsifier. WO-A-88/03522 discloses nitrogen-containing emulsifiers derived from a carboxylic acylating agent, at least one polyamide, and at least one acid or an acid-producing compound able to form a salt with the polyamine, for producing explosive compositions.
The emulsifiers mainly used at present for producing water-in-oil emulsions for liquid explosives are amide derivatives of polyisobutylene-succinic anhydride. These have the disadvantage that they can be obtained by elaborate synthesis. In addition, the synthesis gives rise to a high proportion of byproducts which vary in quantity, which makes it difficult to set a uniform quality of product, such as, for example, a constant viscosity of the emulsifier. Corresponding disadvantages emerge therefrom on production of the explosive emulsion.